Have you noticed that the Social Security Administration has stopped mailing its annual statement outlining your estimated monthly Social Security benefits and your earnings history? Turns out, the agency stopped sending out those paper statements in April 2011 to save $70 million a year on printing and postage. (In February 2012, the Social Security Administration resumed mailing them only to workers 60 and older who aren’t receiving Social Security checks yet.) A New Way to Get Social Security Statements In early May, however, the SSA began letting everyone over 18 obtain their estimated benefits and earnings records at its website, socialsecurity.gov. So if you're under 60, this information is only available online. That means it’s now up to you to hunt down these key figures. ... Continue reading →

I’m so pleased to welcome you to Next Avenue, a digital destination that addresses an all-new phase of adulthood with a wholly unprecedented approach to content — a lively blend of fresh journalism crafted by a team of veteran reporters and expert contributors; trusted information from government, non-profit agencies and commercial media outlets; and penetrating insights from a renowned private university and PBS stations around the country. This site was conceived to help you deal with the full range of concerns and interests that are on your mind during this stage of life — your “adult part 2.” Like you, the Next Avenue team members are seized by scores of questions and have begun brainstorming ideas relating to what we should do next and how ... Continue reading →

Birthdays are particularly significant days on our emotional calendar — the inner calendar that we use to find out how we are feeling, past, present and future. Milestone birthdays — like 50, 60, 70 — are even more significant. Why is this? How does this change with the years? And what can we do about it? These are especially pertinent questions for us to answer if we want to feel happier, more fulfilled and in control of our lives. I will try to explain it all, briefly, based on my research for my recently published book and on the experience I have gained in treating patients and teaching for the past 20 years. Here are four enormously important facts about birthdays: They are occasions for ... Continue reading →

local hubNext Avenue is a service of public television stations across the country. Click here to get local information and insight from your area public television station. Continue reading →

A recent hospital stay taught me something that I had not given much thought to before: the way hospital visitors conduct themselves can make a big difference in the comfort and well-being of the patients. When I was first admitted to the hospital, I shared a room with a woman who told me she was 86. Her visitors were quiet and courteous, so it did not bother me in the least when occasionally she had one or two more than the two-visitor limit. She and her visitors respected my privacy but acknowledged that I was there by either saying hello or making eye contact and nodding when they passed my bed. When she left the hospital, her brother gave me the mylar balloons that had ... Continue reading →

The traditional storybook version of career achievement goes something like this: Find an occupation that suits your talents. Get the right education and training. Work hard. Reap the rewards. But midway through life, you may realize that you want to take a new career path and start your own business — perhaps in an entirely different field. Here, in my periodic Next Avenue entrepreneurship blog, I’ll recount the stories of women and men who have taken the plunge, sharing the details of how they made the transition and explaining what you can learn from their experiences. A Heart Doctor Seeks a Change One of these intrepid souls is Dr. Val Ulstad, a 56-year-old cardiologist turned leadership consultant. Ulstad spent decades as a physician in the ... Continue reading →

Add public broadcasters to the media outlets aiming for the 50-plus crowd: a Web site called Next Avenue will go live on Tuesday, a year after first planned, with original and aggregated journalism directed at baby boomers.Under the slogan “where grown-ups keep growing,” Next Avenue will pull together content, including video, from existing public television series, government agencies and a long list of contributors from inside and outside public television.Content will be organized in the categories of health, caregiving, living and learning, money, and work and purpose. The Stanford Center on Longevity will supply original reports, and the site will share content and Internet links with AOL’s Huff/Post50 and More.com, a site oriented toward women.Several outlets already court the baby boomer audience, including AARP. Next ... Continue reading →